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And it’s “Marsala”, so-named after the sweet Sicilian fortified wine. It did appear in their Spring 2015 palette, but it was way down the numbering — and looked so much like a neutral that I totally glossed over it.

I was betting on Lucite Green, especially because Dulux’s forecast for 2015 Color of the Year was Copper Crush, and the color experts from the two companies have always seemed to pick contrasting hues.

Marsala looks like a very muted oxblood. And I really like oxblood…but Marsala kind of looks blah. I wonder if Pantone is losing it? 2014’s Radiant Orchid (aka, mauve, in my opinion) turned a lot of people off, unlike the past years’ Cerulean, Mimosa, and even Tangerine Tango.

But ok…with a name like Marsala, and all that it is supposed to evoke (Sicilian summers, sweet wine, mouthwatering chicken, alcoholic desserts), I could give it a go.

To which the top Singaporean design correspondent (not me lol) commented: “Doesn’t look radiant, and orchids come in many other colors”.
Singapore cultivates over a thousand species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids at the National Orchid Garden. So she knows what she’s talking about.

Granted, I do remember Crayola had a crayon in this shade, called orchid from the purple family. It was formulated in 1949.

A younger Singaporean writer who covers the design beat commented: “Such a grandma type of color! Trying to appeal to the aging population perhaps?”

Pantone released its Spring 2014 palette a few days ago, just before New York Fashion Week opened.

Some news reports (google “Pantone color” to see which) wondered aloud if New York Fashion Week would confirm the color authority’s prediction.

Other news reports excitedly, but probably prematurely and erroneously, declared the key color of Spring 2014 as Pantone’s new Color of the Year, Dazzling Blue (methinks they’re running out of names. But I don’t blame them. They have to name thousands of colors) for 2014.

If you recall from previous posts here, as well as past articles I used to write for the decor magazine I used to work at, Pantone has a history of choosing a key hue for the season. Last year they said Spring 2013’s hot hue would be Monaco Blue. A couple of months later Pantone announced that the star color for 2013 would be Emerald Green. That’s how they get us color addicts to buy more, I guess 😉

Before stocking up for Spring 2014, you might want to check out what colors Pantone says we should be wearing this season. Despite the growing news fatigue with Pantone’s seasonal palettes (remember the backlash on Honeysuckle?), I’m still such a sucker for this.

PS See how Emerald Green is still in the mix, but it’s been supplanted by Mykonos Blue (now that’s a color name I can get on board with) on the top billing? Must be a clue to Dazzling Blue.